She joined the county’s tourism organization in 2005
On July 6, the Visit Sarasota County (VSC) board of directors voted to appoint VSC Vice President Erin M. Duggan the new president and CEO of the organization, effective Sept. 30. That is the date when the current president, Virginia J. Haley, retires, Visit Sarasota County announced.
Duggan has been with VSC since 2005, serving first as public relations manager and then brand director before she became vice president in 2016, a news release notes.
In her various roles at VSC, she has “helped create initiatives such as the wildly successful airline marketing incentive program that attracted new air service into the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport,” the release points out. “Eighteen years ago,” it adds, “she developed Savor Sarasota Restaurant Week,” which annually occurs during the first two weeks of June, putting Sarasota “on the culinary map,” the release notes.
Over the years, the release adds, Duggan also “has developed award-winning marketing and public relations campaigns.”
“I want to thank the community search advisory committee that assisted the VSC Board in this process,” said Nick Mavrikas, chair of the VSC Board of Directors, in the release. “In Erin Duggan, we have selected a leader in the tourism industry who will be able to take this organization and Sarasota County to the next level into the future,” he added.
Along with her VSC responsibilities, the release points out, “Duggan has been a long-time leader in the local community,” serving as president of the Junior League of Sarasota and as the past chair of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce’s Youth Leadership Program.
She is a graduate of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation Leadership Institute and the Sarasota Chamber’s Leadership Sarasota programs, the release adds.
Professionally, the release continues, Duggan has served on the board of directors for Destinations Florida, the trade association for all of Florida’s destination tourism organizations; the board of the Society of American Travel Writers; and the VISIT FLORIDA Marketing Council. “She was named one of 30 Under 30 by Sarasota Magazine in 2007 and one of 40 under 40 by the Tampa Bay Business Observer in 2016,” the release says.
Prior to starting her career with VSC, the release continues, Duggan served as the community relations manager for the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County and as director of marketing and communications for the United Way of Manatee County.
A graduate of Florida Southern College, Duggan holds a Certified Destination Management Executive designation from Destinations International and Purdue University.
She lives in Sarasota, the release notes. Her husband is attorney Patrick Duggan; they have two teenage sons.